Child Equity Atlas - BIDS

Situation in Urban Areas: The Case of Dhaka City Corporation
6.4.3 While there was no census information on
the place of employment, it is crucial to address
the question about where these large number
of child workers are employed and in what
contractual, legal and social working conditions?
Predominantly, child workers are engaged in
the service sector (75 per cent), followed by
the industrial sector (25 per cent), since the
agricultural sector is less prominent in the city
areas. As noted in chapter four, it is pertinent to
probe the vulnerabilities that these real child
workers contend with and Map out concrete
actions to guarantee their rights to thrive, be safe
from abuse and exploitation as enshrined in the
national laws and legal obligations.
6.5 Housing, Access to Sanitary Toilet and
Electricity
6.5.1 Information on housing conditions, access
to sanitary toilet and households with electricity
connections in DCC is presented in Annex Table
6.5 by wards. Expectedly, data show that the
proportion of households with access to sanitary
toilet (irrespective of whether single or shared)
and electricity connection was significantly high
in DCC, in line with the developed city situation.
However, there were over 5 per cent of households
who did not have proper access to a sanitary toilet,
and 1.4 per cent of the households reported having
no electricity connection. It is important not to
misconstrue this physical access to enjoyment of
utility services which are sometimes hijacked by
the exploitative tenancy and ownership systems in
urban areas, leading to a high proportion of urban
slum dwellers vulnerable to higher utility charges.
In 2012, UNICEF 33 found that garment workers
living in urban slums pay higher rates for water
and electricity than normal to their landlords. To
fully address the pockets of utility deprivations,
a nuanced understanding of the sociological
underpinnings of the urban land tenure and social
dynamics of social services provisioning are vital.
33
UNICEF Bangladesh 2012: Key Findings of the Baseline
Survey on the Situation of Women and Children and the
Social Sector Services available in UNICEF Assisted Urban
and Semi-Urban Project Areas of Mirpur and Bhaluka of
Bangladesh.Unpublished Report
Photo : Ibrahim Khan Moni
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